Winning performance

Idris Elba drew strength from his father to portray an icon.

British actor Idris Elba is having what he describes as a “beautiful moment” in his career. His off-screen life, though, is another story. This summer, Elba starred in Guillermo del Toro’s special-effects action thriller Pacific Rim, in which he transformed the rather moldy line, “We are cancelling the apocalypse,” into something akin to Shakespeare.